Raffaele D'Amato Book order

Meticulously researched, this book examines the evidence for the post-Roman military forces of France and Britain during the 'Dark Ages', reconstructing their way of life and the battles they fought in compelling detail.The collapse of the former Western Roman Empire during the so called 'Dark Ages' c. AD 410 was gradual and piecemeal. Out of this vacuum arose regional tribes and leaders determined to take back kingdoms that were theirs and oust any Roman presence for good. However, the Roman guard was tenacious and survived in small pockets that emerged in both Gaul and Britain. These areas of Romano-Celtic resistance held out against the Saxons until at least the mid 6th century in Britain and against the Visigoths and the Merovingian Franks until the late 8th century in France.Drawing on archaeological finds, contemporary sculpture and manuscript illuminations, Dr Raffaele D'Amato presents contemporary evidence for 5th to 9th-century Gallic and British 'Dark Age' armies and reconstructs their way of life and the battles they fought. The text, accompanied by photographs and colour illustrations, paints an intricate picture of how these disparate groups of Roman soldiers survived and adapted on the fringes of the Roman Empire.

Drawing upon the latest literary and archaeological research, this is an in-depth study of the Roman Army units based in the Eastern Provinces during the turbulent third century of the Roman Empire.In this book, eminent Roman historian, Dr Raffaele D'Amato, looks at the notoriously under-represented history of the Roman armies during the middle 3rd Century whose records have been obscured by the chaotic civil wars of that period between usurpers to the Imperial authority of Rome. Following on from the previous title , MAA 527, Roman Army Units in the Western Provinces (2): 3rd Century AD , this book considers the evidence for troops in the Eastern half of the Empire specifically around the Balkans, Mesopotamia, the Middle East and North Africa and looks at the weakness of Imperial central authority which inevitably led to local particularism and a wide range of appearance in regional commands.Dr D'Amato uses literary, painted, sculptural and archaeological sources to reconstruct this little-understood period of Roman military history and, with the aid of meticulous coloured artwork, photos and detailed charts, reconstructs the appearance and campaigns of the Roman forces stationed in the East.

This book draws upon the latest research to explain and illustrate the Roman and allied troops of the consular armies led by Julius Caesar in his Gallic and civil wars.Caius Julius Caesar remains the most famous Roman general of all time. Although he never bore the title, historians since Suetonius have judged him to be, in practice, the very first 'emperor' – after all, no other name in history has been synonymous with a title of imperial rule. Caesar was a towering personality who, for better or worse, changed the history of Rome forever. His unscrupulous ambition was matched only by his genius as a commander and his conquest of Gaul brought Rome its first great territorial expansion outside the Mediterranean world. His charismatic leadership bounded his soldiers to him not only for expeditions 'beyond the edge of the world' – to Britain – but in the subsequent civil war that raised him to ultimate power. What is seldom appreciated, however is that the army he led was as varied and cosmopolitan as those of later centuries, and it is only recently that a wider study of a whole range of evidence has allowed a more precise picture of it to emerge. Drawing on a wide-range of new research, the authors examine the armies of Julius Caesar in detail, creating a detailed picture of how they lived and fought.

"In the twilight of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th-6th centuries, the elite of the field armies was the heavy armored cavalry-the cataphracts, clad in lamellar, scale, mail, and padded fabric armor. After the fall of the West, the Greek-speaking Eastern or Byzantine Empire survived for nearly a thousand years, and cavalry remained predominant in its armies, with the heaviest armored regiments continuing to provide the ultimate shock-force in battle. Accounts from Muslim chroniclers show that the ironclad cataphract on his armored horse was an awe-inspiring enemy: "...they advanced against you, iron-covered-one would have said that they advanced on horses which seemed to have no legs." The heavy units included the regiments of the Tagmata (the central imperial force based around Constantinople)-the Scholai, Eskoubitoi, Athanatoi (or Vighla) and Ikanatoi-and also provincial units raised from the populations of the Themata or army corps districts throughout the Empire. By the 11th century the latter were increasingly being replaced with mercenaries, as provincial governors became semi-independent and often rebellious warlords. This disunity contributed to the Empire's disastrous defeat by the Turks at Manzikert in 1071; thereafter the shrunken Empire relied even more heavily on cavalry, since its field armies had to be mobile to meet the many threats to the frontiers. This new study, replete with stunning full-color illustrations of the various units, offers an engaging insight into the fearsome heavy cavalry units that battled against the enemies of Rome's Eastern Empire." --Amazon.com

This title covers the history and armies of the powerful military kingdom founded by the Normans in southern Italy and Sicily, which were contemporary to William the Conqueror's invasion of England.

Roman unit standards played a important role, both ceremonially and on the battlefield. With the armies of the late Roman Republic and early Empire continually engaged on the frontiers, the soldiers selected for the dangerous honor of carrying them were figures of particular renown and splendor. Standard-bearers wore special armor, with the heads and pelts of animals such as bears, wolves, or even lions draped over their helmets and shoulders. The standards themselves varied greatly, from the legion's Eagle and imperial portrait image to various cohort signa, flags (vexilla), and even dragon windsocks (dracones) copied from barbarian enemies and allies. This volume of a two-part series by Roman army expert, Raffaele D'Amato uses detailed color plates and the latest research to examine these vital cogs in the Roman army machine that drove its soldiers to conquer the known world

A highly illustrated account of the battle of Strasbourg in AD 357, a decisive victory for the Romans under their Caesar Julian against the Alemanni and their leader Chnodomar.Civil war in the Western Roman Empire between AD 350--53 had left the frontiers weakly defended, and the major German confederations along the Rhine--the Franks and Alemanni--took advantage of the situation to cross the river, destroy the Roman fortifications along it and occupy parts of Roman Gaul. In 355, the Emperor Constantius appointed his 23-year-old cousin Julian as his Caesar in the provinces of Gaul with command of all troops in the region. Having recaptured the city of Cologne, Julian planned to trap the Alemanni in a pincer movement, but when the larger half of his army was forced into retreat, he was left facing a much larger German force outside the walls of the city of Strasbourg. This new study relates the events of this epic battle as the experience and training of the Roman forces prevailed in the face of overwhelming German numbers.

The first in a series of books that studies the actual units stationed in each Roman province, perfect for anyone interested in the Roman army.

The history of the armored heavy cavalry that was absorbed into Roman service from the steppe peoples they defeated in the 2nd Century AD, and that came to provide half Rome's cavalry during the Late Empire.